A CONVICTED sex offender installed a secret camera in a changing area at a Borders farm so he could watch a female employee undressing and showering, Jedburgh Sheriff Court has been told.

Sixty-one-year-old Raymond Hay pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism at the farm where he was employed as a manager in September 2022. 

But his plan was rumbled by work colleagues and they reported him to the police. 

Prosecutor India McLean said Hay “panicked” when confronted by both his colleagues and the police but eventually admitted his guilt.

She added the attempt was unsuccessful with no illicit material recovered on any of the devices or memory card seized by police. 

The court heard Hay had a previous conviction for historic sex crimes and was jailed in 2018. 

Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hay the offence can have a “devastating effect” on their victims and said he was satisfied the threshold of custody had been met. 

But he accepted an alternative to custody was available. 

He ordered him to carry out 255 hours of unpaid work, and gave him a nine months night time curfew at his home in Weirgate Way, St Boswells, between the hours of 7pm and 7am as a direct alternative to custody. 

His name was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.